Halis Öztürk: Kurdish Chieftain of the Ararat Rebellion
- Hojîn Rostam
- May 25
- 6 min read
Who Was Halis Öztürk?
Halis Öztürk (1889–1977), known in Kurdish as Xalis Begê Sîpkî and in Turkish as Sipkanlı Halis Bey, was a Kurdish tribal chieftain of the Sipkan (Sipki) tribe and a Turkish politician. He took an active part in the 1930 Ararat rebellion — one of the great Kurdish uprisings against the early Turkish Republic — and decades later served as a long-standing member of the Turkish parliament for Ağrı before being imprisoned after the 1960 military coup.
Key Takeaways
• He was the chieftain of the Kurdish Sipkan tribe, based in the Tutak district of present-day Ağrı Province.
• His father, Abdulmejid (Abdülmecit) Bey, was a Sipkan chieftain and a commander in the Hamidiye Cavalry.
• He joined and played an active role in the 1927–1930 Ararat (Ağrı) rebellion and was part of the Republic of Ararat's negotiating delegation.
• He later entered Turkish politics, serving as a Democrat Party deputy for Ağrı from 1950 until the 1960 coup.
• After the coup he was tried at Yassıada and sentenced to ten years in prison; he died in Kayseri in 1977.
Quick Facts
Full Name: Halis Öztürk
Also Known As: Xalis Begê Sîpkî (Kurdish); Sipkanlı Halis Bey (Turkish)
Born: 1889 (some sources 1899), Tutak, Ottoman Empire (now Ağrı Province, Turkey)
Died: 24 September 1977, Kayseri, Turkey
Background: Kurdish (Sipkan tribe)
Occupation / Role: Tribal chieftain, landowner, and politician
Era: Late Ottoman Empire and Republic of Turkey
Known For: Role in the Ararat rebellion; long service as an MP for Ağrı
Associated With: The Republic of Ararat; the Democrat Party
Historical Importance: A Kurdish chieftain who moved from armed rebellion to parliamentary politics
Table of Contents
Early Life and Origins
Halis was born around 1889 in the Tutak district, then part of the Bayazıt sancak of Erzurum province in the Ottoman Empire, and today part of Ağrı Province in eastern Turkey. He was the son of Abdulmejid Bey, the chieftain of the Sipkan (Sipki) tribe and one of the commanders of the Hamidiye Cavalry — the irregular Kurdish regiments raised by Sultan Abdülhamid II in the 1890s.
Halis inherited his father's standing as a tribal leader and landowner and worked in agriculture. His exact year of birth is uncertain, with sources giving both 1889 and 1899.
Historical Context
Halis Öztürk came of age as the Ottoman Empire collapsed and the Republic of Turkey took its place. The new state pursued a policy of centralisation and Turkish nationalism that denied the existence of a separate Kurdish identity, banning the Kurdish language and dissolving traditional tribal and religious structures.
Kurdish resistance erupted in a series of revolts: the Sheikh Said rebellion of 1925, the Ararat rebellion of 1927–1930, and the Dersim rebellion of 1937–1938. The Ararat revolt, centred on the slopes of Mount Ararat in Ağrı, was organised in part by the nationalist Xoybûn league and briefly proclaimed a self-governing “Republic of Ararat”. It was into this uprising that Halis Öztürk, as a local chieftain, was drawn.
Role in the Ararat Rebellion
When the Ararat rebellion broke out, Halis Öztürk joined the uprising and remained active through to its suppression in 1930. According to the historian Mehmet Ali Kışlalı, some sources count him among the prominent figures who helped initiate the revolt, and he is listed among the Kurdish commanders alongside the rebellion's military leader, Ihsan Nuri.
Öztürk also took part in negotiations with representatives of the Turkish Republic as a member of the Republic of Ararat's delegation. At one point he was arrested and reportedly escaped while being transferred from Erzurum to Trabzon. The rebellion was ultimately crushed by the Turkish army, and Mount Ararat was brought back under state control.
From Rebellion to Parliament
Like many eastern Kurdish notables, Öztürk was caught up in the Republic's policy of deporting tribal leaders to western Turkey, and he spent time in internal exile in Kayseri. Yet within a generation the same man returned to public life through the ballot box.
When Turkey moved to multi-party democracy, Öztürk was elected to the Grand National Assembly as a Democrat Party (DP) deputy for Ağrı in the landmark election of 14 May 1950. He was re-elected and served across the IX, X, and XI parliamentary terms, remaining a deputy until the military coup of 27 May 1960 removed the Democrat Party government from power.
The Yassıada Trials
After the 1960 coup, the deposed Democrat Party leadership and its deputies — Öztürk among them — were put on trial on the prison island of Yassıada. He was charged, like the others, with violating the constitution. Öztürk, who spoke only limited Turkish, gave his defence in a mixture of Kurdish and Turkish.
His reply to the charge became locally famous for its wit: he told the court that, had he known the constitution lay beneath their feet, he would never have trampled on it. The Yassıada tribunal sentenced him to ten years' imprisonment, and he was sent to Kayseri prison. Fellow defendants, including Abdülmelik Fırat — himself a grandson of Sheikh Said — later remembered him in their memoirs as clever and quick-witted.
Timeline and Key Events
1889 — Born in Tutak (some sources give 1899)
1890s — His father, Abdulmejid Bey, commands a Hamidiye cavalry regiment
1925 — The Sheikh Said rebellion breaks out; Öztürk does not join it
1926 — Sent into internal exile to Kayseri among deported eastern notables
1927–1930 — Takes an active part in the Ararat rebellion
1930 — The Ararat rebellion is suppressed by the Turkish army
1950 — Elected Democrat Party deputy for Ağrı
1950–1960 — Serves three parliamentary terms
1960 — The military coup removes the DP from power
1961 — Tried at Yassıada and sentenced to ten years in prison
1977 — Dies on 24 September in Kayseri
Debates and Misconceptions
His date of birth. Sources disagree on whether Öztürk was born in 1889 or 1899; the discrepancy is common for rural figures of his generation whose births were not formally registered.
The extent of his role in the Ararat rebellion. Most sources agree he was an active participant and list him among the rebellion's commanders, but accounts differ on whether he was a senior instigator or a prominent local chieftain who joined an existing movement.
Rebel and parliamentarian. His path from armed revolt against the Republic to serving as one of its elected deputies can seem contradictory. It reflects a wider pattern in which the Republic both suppressed Kurdish notables and later sought to co-opt them, and in which Kurdish leaders pursued their communities' interests by whatever means were available at the time.
Legacy
Halis Öztürk's life traces the arc of Kurdish politics in twentieth-century Turkey: from the tribal world of the Hamidiye regiments, through armed rebellion on Mount Ararat, to the compromises of parliamentary politics, and finally to a prison cell after a military coup.
He is remembered in Ağrı as a traditional tribal leader who represented his region for a decade, and in Kurdish history as one of the chieftains who took up arms in the Ararat revolt. His insistence on defending himself in Kurdish before the Yassıada court has given him a small but enduring place in the memory of Kurdish dignity under pressure.
Related People, Places, and Topics
Ihsan Nuri — the military leader of the Ararat rebellion
The Sheikh Said, Ararat, and Dersim Rebellions — the wider arc of interwar Kurdish revolts
Celadet Alî Bedirxan — a leading figure of the Xoybûn league behind the revolt
Simko Shikak — a contemporary Kurdish leader across the border in Iran
Sheikh Said — leader of the 1925 rebellion that preceded Ararat
Related topics: the Republic of Ararat; the Xoybûn league; the Hamidiye Cavalry; the Yassıada trials; the Sipkan tribe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Halis Öztürk?
Halis Öztürk (1889–1977) was the chieftain of the Kurdish Sipkan tribe and a Turkish politician who took part in the 1930 Ararat rebellion and later served as a Democrat Party MP for Ağrı.
Was Halis Öztürk Kurdish?
Yes — he was the chieftain of the Kurdish Sipkan tribe, known in Kurdish as Xalis Begê Sîpkî, and he famously defended himself in Kurdish at his trial.
What was his role in the Ararat rebellion?
He joined the 1927–1930 uprising as a Sipkan chieftain, is listed among its commanders, and served in the Republic of Ararat's negotiating delegation; he was arrested and reportedly escaped during a prison transfer.
Why was Halis Öztürk imprisoned?
As a Democrat Party deputy, he was tried at Yassıada after the 1960 military coup and sentenced to ten years for violating the constitution.
What is he best known for?
For combining two very different roles — an armed participant in a major Kurdish rebellion and a long-serving member of the Turkish parliament for Ağrı.
References
Rohat Alakom, Hoybûn Örgütü ve Ağrı Ayaklanması, Avesta, 1998.
İhsan Nuri, Ağrı Dağı İsyanı, Med Yayıncılık, 1992.
Wadie Jwaideh, The Kurdish National Movement: Its Origins and Development, Syracuse University Press, 2006.
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